


Aftermath

by natsubeatsrock



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, I Nearly Cried Everytime I Went to Write This, It Isn't NOT Canon, Loss of Parent(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24042970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsubeatsrock/pseuds/natsubeatsrock
Summary: It's been three days since the Battle with Tartarus ended and Natsu is still struggling with the loss of Igneel. Can a visit from a friend help him? Written as a part of Fairy Tail Rare Pairs Week 2020.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lisanna Strauss
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Fairy Tail Rare Pairs Week 2020





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written as a part of Fairy Tail Rare Pairs Week 2020. I put a twist on Day 4's theme of "Longing" for this story.

She knocked on the door three times.

"Natsu!" she called out.

I didn't reply.

"Happy told me that you were here."

I still said nothing.

I guess she took that as an invitation to come in. I felt like I needed to protest but I couldn't. I figured that this must be how Lucy feels.

"Stupid cat didn't lock the door," I muttered.

"And you're one to talk," she joked back.

It was almost nice to know that she still had jokes. Almost.

"Wendy told us me about," she started, but couldn't finish the thought immediately. "About what happened three days ago."

And there it was. I knew that this was where the conversation was headed. That is if you could call this a conversation. I just didn't expect it to get there as soon as it did.

"The others haven't seen you since then, so I wanted to check in on you."

I figured I couldn't convince her to leave, so I might as well talk with her. "What exactly did Wendy tell you happened?"

I guess she took my question as an invitation to make herself comfortable. I can't act like it wasn't. "Well," she answered, pulling out a nearby chair, "she said that her, Gajeel, Sting and Rogue's dragons came out of their bodies, or something. They helped take care of the Face statues and disappeared."

"Ah," I acknowledged. I figured the other dragons were involved somehow, but I didn't know the way they were. "Anything else?"

"I think she said that they could barely hold up their forms as is."

"Of course," I scoffed.

"Natsu," she asked tentatively, "did you... did anything different happen?"

"Did anything different happen," I repeated to myself, starting to get up. 

"So something..."

"No, no, that sounds about right. I saw Igneel come out of me. I saw him help fight against Acnologia. I saw him disappear afterward. That sounds about right.

"I guess the rest of what happened then doesn't matter much. I guess it doesn't matter that I saw all the searching I had done come to nothing in almost an instant seeing he was in me the whole time. I guess it's no big deal that I couldn't get a decent answer out of him for the insanely complex questions I had for him like, 'Why were you gone all this time?' and 'What happened when you left?'

"And sure, he told me that I'd get the answers to his questions if I did something for him. But I guess it doesn't matter because Acnologia tore him in half and decided to blast him for good measure. On the bright side, it's not like he'd have told me if he didn't get blown up. I couldn't even manage as simple a task as 'give me a book'. At the very least, it's great to know I'd barely be able to enjoy having him back."

"I- I'm sorry," Lisanna offered. "I had no idea."

"Well, neither did anyone else so don't go feeling too special."

That was probably too harsh of me. I knew it as I said it. I could tell she definitely felt it was harsh to come from me. Seeing her reaction, I was going to apologize. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Listen," she continued, trying to ignore what I said. "I know... I know that you really wanted to see Igneel. I know that you spent so much time looking for him. I know that you hoped against all odds that you would see him again.

"And if what you've been telling me is true, I'm sure that he's been proud to see you too. He's seen all the amazing work that you've done. He's seen how much you've grown since coming to the guild. I'm sure his heart broke every time you were knocked down and I'm sure he was proud of you every time you got back up.

"I doubt that he wanted to lie to you any more than you wanted to be lied to and I'm sure that it hurt him to disappoint you. But if he was going to tell you the answers to your questions, I'm sure he'd say that he did it for something bigger than himself."

As she spoke, I lost any sense of self-control or appearance of toughness I may have had up to that point and started weeping. As if I didn't feel pathetic enough. I had spent the last three days holed up in my house. I finally get a visitor and I snap at her. And when I actually let her talk, I start crying like a baby.

I don't think I cried as hard in my life. Even when I was actually seeing Igneel die. At that point, I was trying to stay strong for him and prove that I could stay strong. Trying to act as if I could actually keep going on knowing I'd have to do it without him. That act didn't last as long as I would have hoped.

It took a while, but I noticed that she was sitting next to me. She must have moved closer to me as she spoke. I started to wonder how she was able to say things like this. Why she seemed able to understand where I was coming from.

When I realized the answer, I immediately reached to embrace her. As I cried, I couldn't help but apologize. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said.

"I'm sorry, Lisanna," I made out through tears.

"It's okay, Natsu."

"What was it like? When you were in Edolas?" I asked. I didn't know if I had crossed a line in asking her, and yet some selfish part of me didn't care.

"It was almost like a nightmare," she replied hesitantly. "I was in a place where I recognized almost all of the faces. You were there, my siblings were there, Gray was there. But you weren't you, Elf and Mira weren't Elf and Mira, Gray wasn't Gray. At least the ones I knew.

"When I- when we, I guess - had to go back, they told me they had known that I wasn't their Lisanna. I guess it must have been the same for them. I wasn't the Lisanna they knew. I knew it and they knew it. But they let me think they didn't know because they thought I had reasons to do what I did."

"Did it hurt to say goodbye to them? Even though they weren't... well-"

"Yes," she gently cut me off. "It hurt knowing that I was leaving them alone. I bet it was as if they were going to lose their little sister."

"Oh," I simply said back.

"But the Mira in Edolas said something to me just before I came back that I haven't forgotten since."

"What was it?"

"You can't make your real brother and sister suffer anymore. Go back to your own world, Lisanna. And give the 'us' in Earthland our best, okay?"

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "That sounds like something even our Mirajane would say."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Up until that point, I almost hated myself. I hated myself for lying to them. I hated pretending to be the sister they wanted me to be. But I never hated them through any of what happened. Even so, I figured they would hate me if they found out.

"Hearing that let me know that they still wanted the best for me, despite knowing the truth about me. They saw what I was doing as trying to fill the void they were missing in the Lisanna they knew. So, they were trying to fill the void of the siblings I knew."

"You really think that Igneel did what he did because he loved me?" I didn't mean it to be accusatory. I came out more as a self-revelation.

"If he's half the dragon you've told us about, I'm sure he did what he did for your sake."

I needed to hear that. I wanted to believe that there was a reason that he didn't tell me. I needed someone to tell me that he didn't because he couldn't. I needed someone to tell me he couldn't because he loved me.

We stayed together in silence for a few moments but felt like forever. It reminded me of when we were kids and Happy had just hatched from his egg. Back then, things were so much more simple. It's crazy how long ago that was and how much longer ago it feels.

Every now and then, I wished we could go back to those days. Back to when it was the three of us. It was always something. At first, it was thinking she was dead. Then, it was hoping we could get back to how things were. Recently, it was wanting to live in a world where I could still search for Igneel with her.

I've thought of what it would be like if things were different. Maybe I should have gone on the mission with her and her siblings. Maybe then she wouldn't have been in Edolas for two years. Maybe we'd form a real team together.

The three of us, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Carla, Mirajane, and Elfman. That might be a pretty big team.

And who knows? Maybe we would have grown closer over the two years. Maybe she would have actually become my real wife by now.

I don't know why that thought came up. For all the times I imagined how things would be different, I never thought of a future like that. But, for some reason, I didn't mind that I did at all.

That would have to wait another time.

"You know," I finally spoke up, starting to break apart from her. "before he... I promised him that I would do something for him."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said back. "But I don't think I can do it now. I'm not sure that I could ever do it."

"Why?"

"I don't think I'm strong enough to do it."

"Well, that hasn't stopped you before," she chuckled.

Her reply got a bit of a chuckle from me. "I guess you're right," I replied. "But I don't know that I could get ready to do it here."

"Oh," she said.

I could tell she was disappointed by the news. She wanted me to stay with the guild. I wanted to stay with the guild. But I wasn't sure that I could get ready to do what I needed to get ready for it in Magnolia, especially after the whole Tartarus incident.

"How long do you think it will take?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said you needed to get ready. How long do you think it will take to get ready?"

"About a year, I guess."

"Oh."

The room fell silent for a while. I wasn't sure how she would respond to that. And then she stood up and walked towards the door. It looked as if she was about to leave, but then she turned around and asked me a question.

"Will you come back when you're done?"

I can't say that I didn't see her question as a possibility. It was more that I didn't expect it to be the only one she would ask. Though, I was glad that, of all the questions she could have asked, this was the one on her mind.

"Well," I said, "I don't know that I'd have anywhere else to go after I'm done."

"Then do me a favor," she replied. "Promise me you'll come back."

Looking at her, I could tell she was serious about this. I was brought back to a promise we made when we were kids. At the time, I don't think we meant much by it. But I could tell that she was serious.

"All right," I said, rising up and walking towards her. "I promise that when I am done, I'll come back to Magnolia, back to Fairy Tail... and back to you." Those last words came as I stopped a few feet in front of where she was.

"You couldn't have said that from where you were?" she questioned.

She was right. I knew she was right. I didn't think about how hilariously cheesy that was of me to do. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking when I did it. But not that was the only thing I could possibly think about. I started to scratch my head as I struggled to find the words to justify myself.

"Well- you know- I just- it seemed-"

Clearly, I wasn't doing a great job.

All of my thoughts stopped as I felt her lips brush against my cheek.

"I like that you didn't," she replied.  


It took me a while to register what happened. Did Lisanna actually try to kiss me? I looked to her face and was met by her smile. It wasn't the playful smirk I was used to seeing from her. It was a gentle, honest smile. As if she had the same wishes as me.  


"Good luck, Natsu," she said, as she left the cabin.

I didn't know how to react. I didn't know if I should have chased her down and try to kiss her back. I didn't know if I should have leaped for joy, ran to the others in the guild, and brag about what happened. I didn't know if there was anything I was supposed to do.

I must have stood there for a good few minutes when Happy finally came back through the door.

"Natsu, I'm back!" he greeted.

I heard him, but I didn't know how to reply to him.

"Did Lisanna come by here?" he asked. "She was asking for you."

I tried to hide a reaction, but he read my reaction like a book.

"Oh, it looks like someone's in love," he teased.

Normally, I would have been mad at him and protest. But, just like earlier, the idea didn't seem like a thing to be ashamed of.

"Happy," I announced, "I think we should start packing."

"Why?" he asked. "Are we moving?"

"Something like that," I replied.

**Author's Note:**

> Nali is one of my favorite ships to talk about on Tumblr. As much as I've said about it, I never would have thought I'd be writing about it. This has been a concept I've been considering for well over a year now. It didn't feel right to add this as part of the actual canon of Fairy Tail or as part of any other series. And so, I've published it on its own.
> 
> Natsu in this story is different from how we know him to be in canon. I wanted to portray him as more emotionally broken and pessimistic than we got in canon. As my favorite character, this was gut-wrenching at times to write. I have some ideas that may extend beyond this story. Let me know if you're interested.
> 
> See you!


End file.
